Published date: 2 September 2022
Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.
Contract summary
Industry
Military research and technology - 73410000
Location of contract
BS34 8JH
Value of contract
£4,445,000
Procurement reference
tender_285187/1103348
Published date
2 September 2022
Closing date
4 October 2022
Closing time
5pm
Contract start date
17 October 2022
Contract end date
31 March 2025
Contract type
Not applicable
Procedure type
Restricted procedure (above threshold)
A two-stage procedure, where the first stage is used to select suppliers, who are then invited to bid in the second stage.
This procedure can be used for procurements above the relevant contract value threshold.
Contract is suitable for SMEs?
Yes
Contract is suitable for VCSEs?
No
Description
The Authority has a developing requirement to demonstrate a full-scale prototype of an autonomous vessel capability that is able to transit on the surface at speed, quickly transitioning sub-surface for covert delivery of capabilities. Integration into an open architecture network (NSN) will be critical for these vessels to operate autonomously and deploy modular mission payloads.
The littoral strike battlespace commander requires surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and strike effectors, which can be covertly deployed to multiple simultaneous maritime locations and persist to enhance commando operations. The capability must have a useful service life, operate from the broadest range of platforms, worldwide, by day and night, survive likely threats and be deliverable.
Due to the rapid timescales the authority is driving, we would expect that companies we will be working with will have already successfully designed, manufactured and operated an autonomous vessel (as described above) capable of surface and sub-surface operation up to at least fully-operational demonstrator stage. If companies have not achieved this to date, we would expect companies to achieve a minimum entry criteria, potentially backed up by authority SQEP panel via on-site visits to confirm that you have capabilities, resources, plans and measures in place to meet this requirement within the given timescales. Please provide supporting evidence to the above within the white paper.
It is expected that the work will involve experimentation and demonstrations of an uncrewed Surface and subsurface vessel. The contractual mechanism is intended to be a multi-supplier framework. Potential bidders are invited to register their interest in receiving an Invitation to Tender to join the framework by first completing the associated Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) and White Paper template.
The Authority intends to invite all eligible companies who pass the PQQ to tender for the Framework. Companies who successfully pass the PQQ will be considered eligible to receive an Invitation to Tender at the next stage of the programme. c.£4.45M inc VAT is available to be split amongst multiple companies under a competitive process and assessed for best Value For Money (VFM), awarding to 1 or more companies to accelerate towards Min Viable Product (MVP) within the Design/Re-design, Manufacture and Demo phases between Dec 22 and Mar 25.
The process as currently defined post PQQ will be to issue an ITT against a minimum requirement, select bidders, accelerate the proposed systems through funding, with the intent of having a full scale demonstration within the framework duration.
As with any framework, there can be no guarantee of any particular quantity of work being put through it.
About the buyer
Contact name
Toby Love
Address
#1261 Spruce 2B, DE&S Abbey Wood, Filton
Bristol
BS34 8JH
England
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Closing: 4 October 2022, 5pm
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